In the Shadows of Falling Swords
by Aviantei
Summary: In some ways, I think that the knowledge that Heathcliff is Kayaba has paralyzed us all much more than any status condition can be, and it's struck right to our cores. Asuna's POV during the final fight of SAO. [Twelve Shots of Summer]


**In the Shadows of Falling Swords**

By: Aviantei

A _Sword Art Online_ One Shot

[Twelve Shots of Summer 10/12]

* * *

The paralysis in the system is something I haven't experienced often, but I don't think it's something I could really get used to. One of the benefits of SAO is getting to experience the game with your real body—the environment, the fighting, even the food are all set to envelop the player. I don't think about that sort of stuff often, mainly because after two years, this game has been my life, but now it occurs to me that the realism isn't so great.

Because for all the positive things you get to experience while playing, there's the whole slew of negatives, too.

We've been spared from pain by the system restrictions. But the fatigue, the stress, those are perfectly passed onto us as players, too. Of course, I think paralysis is the worst, because instead of sitting back and being idle with a controller to the side while you wait for your character to recover isn't an option, and you have to deal with the numbness, the utter incapacity to _move_ when you need it most.

Then again, maybe it's the circumstances that are making me think like that. The boss fight on the seventy-fifth floor has been devastating—to our forces, to our self-esteem. Looking around, it's easy to see the draining hope on the faces of the boss raid party. We've only made it three-quarters of the way through the game, and it's bound to only get worse.

But the worst thing that's come from this is learning that Heathcliff—my guild leader and symbol of hope to _thousands_ of players—is none other than the person that got us into this mess in the first place.

Kayaba Akihiko.

And, of course, for me, the worst part is having to sit in a admin induced paralysis that probably won't wear off anytime soon while I watch Kirito-kun fight the man that created the game for our freedom.

In some ways, I think that the knowledge that Heathcliff is Kayaba has paralyzed us all much more than any status condition can be, and it's struck right to our cores.

The battle hasn't been going on for even a few minutes, but it still feels like it's been dragging out. At the start, both Kirito-kun and Heathcliff—after two years, it's impossible to think of him as someone else, even when he brazenly admitted it—had their HP reduced to just a sliver. The sort of damage it would take to end this should only take the most advanced players mere seconds to get rid of.

Of course, they're the two top players in the game, so maybe that's why this fight is taking forever.

I can't help it. Even though Kirito-kun smiled, even though I smiled, I can't feel easy. "I'll be okay, Asuna," he said. I want to believe him. I want to so badly but I can't imagine this ending any other way.

Not when he asked Heathcliff to keep me from killing myself if I was left behind.

Not when the last time they faced off, Kirito-kun was the one that lost.

Then, one instant is all it takes. Kirito-kun activates one of his Dual-Blade skills, the same one that obliterated the boss on the seventy-fourth floor, the one that had Aincrad bustling in rumors for weeks. It's just the kind of moment that Heathcliff has to have been waiting for. There's no way for Kirito-kun to win if he cancels the skill, no way to win if he carries it through. Heathcliff waits behind his Holy Sword, his HP not budging, and finally the combo finishes, leaving Kirito-kun prone.

The only things the system allows players to do while paralyzed is see, speak, and wait, and I can't bring myself to do any of those.

What I shouldn't be able to do is move. But I am, and my brain catches up with my intended target seconds before I get there. I don't pull to stop myself. It's too late for that. I don't want to.

Just before Heathcliff's sword falls, I throw myself between it and Kirito-kun.

It's meant to be an act of selfless heroism, one of sacrifice. I've seen it in fiction enough times to know how it works. One lover throwing themselves in harm's way to save the other. They're supposed to be brave, smiling, like they don't regret a thing. And I guess while I don't regret a thing, it's not like that at all.

I'm utterly terrified.

My health isn't as low as Kirito-kun's, but it isn't in the best shape. Fighting the boss was no easy task, and I'm at least in the red zone. One clean hit is all it would take, even with my defense level. And this is Heathcliff, the leader of the Knights of the Blood, the man I've been looking up to most of my time in this world, the one of the most influential people who made it seem possible to clear the fight up on the one-hundredth floor.

As his second-in-command, I know how strong he is.

There's no time for Heathcliff to pull back his blade, for Kirito-kun to raise his, for me to even think of reaching for mine. The sword part Heathcliff's signature skill comes down. I feel the impact, minus the pain. Still, it's the sort of contact you can tell how much damage it does to you, and the last amounts of my HP bar blink from red to nonexistent in less than a second.

I'm supposed to be smiling while I shatter into shards of data. I'm supposed to be able to look happily at Kirito-kun, because I've saved his life. I can't do it. Something about it hasn't hit me yet, what I just did, about Heathcliff, that the one disappearing this time is me, that I really am dying, there's a lump in my throat, that I have a lot more regrets than I'm supposed to, that I'm leaving Kirito-kun to live without me, and, _and_—

I don't even get the chance to say "I love you."

* * *

This was written for the Twelve Shots of Summer challenge, which is almost at its end. The prompt this time was "GIANT SWORDS." While I could have done the literal "swords are huge" approach, I couldn't think of anything. And I was like "GIANT SWORDS, GIANT SWORDS... Oh, what about swords for giants?" And after a bit of attempting to think of something for Attack on Titan, I realized I didn't have to take "giants" so literally, thus, it's a metaphor 'cause Kazuto and Heathcliff are the two most notable players in SAO, making them "giants."

Really, I didn't have to think so hard because SAO's like "SWORDS YES FIGHT" but hey.

Anyway, I also recently bought and read the first SAO novel again (with many thanks to Yen Press 'cause we need more official novel translations in the world), I started considering things from Asuna's POV.

Thus this.

It's not as depressing as it sounds! I mean, they get a happy(ish) ending seconds after this!

Anyway, you want more things to read, go check out the T-Sauce forum. I have to run and do life things.

Thanks for reading!

[POST] 081314


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